‘The importance of the binominal’ in anarchism has been stressed by historians. Carl Levy used the phrase to characterise Errico Malatesta's oscillation between local patriotism and cosmopolitanism, but it also applies to the French exiles who were his contemporaries in London, and this was in fact just one of the many dual traits of their groups. Other examples include the tension between communitarian isolation and internationalisation in the French comrades’ social organisation and political mores, between individualism and organisationalism in their political outlook, between blind terrorist violence and more gradualist and educationalist militant endeavours, and also, more prosaically, between camaraderie and conflict. The sociology of exile groups was also marked by a contrast between the elites and the proletarian exiles. Even the responses to the refugees were torn between hostility and sympathy. No doubt, part of the current interest in political and social histories of anarchism stems from their complex and occasionally paradoxical character. The highly colourful London groups were no exception, especially as their exile took place in a climactic period, in which they crystallised many social and cultural changes, if not crises.

There is also the vexed question of their historical significance and contemporary relevance, which has been something of Holy Grail for historians in recent years. The history of pre-First World War Franco-British anarchist and syndicalist networks was resurrected for the most part as a result of the wave of terrorist attacks which started with 9/11. The 7 July attacks on London, which triggered many public debates on the asylum offered in Britain to foreigners suspected of terrorist involvements, had almost uncanny echoes – at least superficially – with the era of propaganda by the deed and its effects on asylum and immigration policies. The most insightful and possibly final conclusions on this topic have been drawn by Richard Jensen, who pointed out that anarchist-inspired attacks declined when repression was eased and the working classes became better integrated into the broader nation and formed labour organisations where their grievances could be articulated in a non-violent way.